with. he's been in congress for a long time before that, he was in the military. got two distinguished flying crosses, two bronze stars. went to candidates school, two tours as an assault helicopter pilot in vietnam. so somebody who knows a little bit about defending themselves. anyway, armed introducer comes in and daughter screams, congressman grabs a son. his son points a shotgun at the bad guy, the bad guy runs off. >> bad guy away, not the guy to mess with as you mentioned. thank you so much. now to wolf blitzer. "situation room" starts right now. >> thanks very much, brook. two weeks before the united states may plunge into financial crisis. plu, media mogul rupert murdoch is just hours away from being

grilled and lambasteds by british law makers and now a whistleblower in the growing phone hackl scandal reportedly is dead. and a 77-year-old man defends his home and family from an intruder with a gun. stand by for the dramatic story. that's even more compelling because -- get this -- he's a member of the united states congress. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." the u.s. defaulting on its debt for the first time in history? we can't state it enough, this has enormous consequences for all of us, and time is quickly running out to prevent what the president calls armageddon. let's check in with kate baldwin. she's standing by with the latest. where do the negotiations stand right now? >> the two top republicans in

the house. no official readout from the white house, but president obama says we are making progress when asked today by reporters how the debt talks were going when he was leaving an event in the rose garden. on the part of speaker boehner, a spokesman for him said that as they said really all weekend that the lines of communications remain open, but 2340 progress or agreement so report at this point. at the very same time, wolf, the house is scheduled to take up a measure tomorrow that would dramatically cut spending and also make raising the debt ceiling contingent on congress passing a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. this is something long supported by conservatives. not supported by democrats. it's known as the cut, cap and balance, although the president's spokesman called it

something very different this afternoon. let's listen here. >> what we are witnessing here with this measure is classic washington prosturing. duck, do i have and dis-manhattan pl duck responsibility, dodge obligations and dismantle eventually if enshrined into law, which it would not be. but it would require the dismantlement of our social safety net. social security, medicare and medica medicaid. >> the reality is this measure very likely wouldn't make it to the point of getting to the president as it's unlikely to make it through the senate, largely becoming a symbolic vote for republicans, if you will. but as you mentioned, wolf, the deadline is approaching. now within two weeks. and because of that, the house majority -- senate majority leader harry reid announced today he's keeping the senate in session, working even saturdays and sundays until this debt crisis is solved.

i will tell you that this probably, these extra days in session will likely come in handy as the clock ticks down, wolf. >> we're going to have a major debate the next hour here in "the situation room." two members of the house of the representatives, a liberal democrat and a conservative republican will square off. michele bachmann is reversing course signing on to the gop's cut, cap and balance plan to reduce spending. the tea party favorite had previously refused to support it, saying it was too timid. bachmann announced her change of heart just a little while ago in the key primary state of south carolina. >> i invite the president of the

united states to travel with me to south carolina, to iowa, to texas, to new hampshire, to florida. the people and businesses i'm meeting with are demanding that the people in washington, d.c. listen to them and stop the debt-fuelled spending. >> bachmann's republican primary rival signed on to the cut, cap and balance plan. much more on this story coming up. u.s. government officials holding face to face talks with representatives of moammar gadhafi's regime. both sides confirming discussions, but the united states emphasizing this was not, repeat, not a negotiation. cnn's ivan watson was the first to report this development. he's joining us from the libyan capital of triboli. what happened here? tell our viewers what we know.

>> well, this was a secret meeting that took place on saturday in tunisia, involving high-ranking u.s. government officials and representatives of mommar gadhafi's internationally isolated regime. and we were finally able to confirm that this meeting, this secret meeting took place when we spoke with gadhafi's government spokesman just a few hours ago. take a listen to this exclusive video. >> is this the first step? >> this is the first step. we welcome any further steps and we are prepared to go back to libya and go forward. we don't want to be stuck in the past. we are people that want to go forward all the time. if i may, it's not the time now to name people, but, you know,

it's a first step dialogue. >> but it was direct face to face in tunisia on saturday? >> yes. okay? >> thank you. state department officials have told us that officials were libyan ambassador to libya, recalled last december amid anger over the wikileaks reports coming out. the assistant secretary of state and a national security council official. state department officials saying that this was a three-hour meeting in the tunisia capital involving representatives from the libyan said. they say that this was, quote, a one-time meeting sending a clear message to the libyans that gadhafi must go. this secret meeting took place

in tunisia one day after u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton formally announced that the u.s. was recognizing that rebel council, the transitional national council in eastern opposition-controlled libya in the city of benghazi as the u.s.'s official partner here in libya. >> u.s. officials are being adamant, they're simply saying this was not a negotiation. this was an ultimatum. and they were basically saying, gadhafi must go. period. >> that's right. and the gadhafi spokesman tried to spin that a different direction, saying this was a chance for us to sit down, explain our position, deny any charges that we had attacked our own civilian population, deny any of the allegations that

having made, which has led to four months of nato bombing. so we have both sides trying to spin in different directions in this secret meeting that took place. a face to face meeting between representatives of two governments and definitely not seeing eye to eye. certainly over the last five months. >> as you point out, a day after hillary clinton the u.s. is recognizing the rebels as the governing party in libya. on my blog at cnn.com/situationroom, i write about that $33 billion that the united states government has frozen in libyan assets here in the united states. now that the u.s. has recognized the rebels, n rebels, a lot of is going to go to them. but should the u.s. deduct whatever it's caused the u.s. taxpayers to help the libyans, protect the libyans, about $1

billion so far, check out my blog. cnn.com/situationroom. from pakistan, a very graphic video released by taliban showing 16 men being executed. >> this is a graphic look at how brutal and ugly the war against the taliban can get. some of you may find this very disturbing. if you would like to turn away, this is a good time to do so. let's walk you through this video. it was released by the taliban, posted online. men wearing traditional pakistani garb, all of them with their hands tied behind their back. in front of them, you see three armed men, you assume these are taliban fighters. one of them is scolding the men who are lined up, accusing them of being enemies of islam, saying these executions are about to take place for six

children. the military here vehemently denies those excuses took place. after the scolding is over, that's when you see and hear the gunfire. you see the men topple to the ground, some of them moaning and writhing in pain. we're not going so show you what happened next. some of the gunmen walk up to the men and shoot them again, sometimes in an effort too make sure they're dead. the military believes the men who were killed were police officers kidnapped during a cross-border attack on june 1. militants crossed over from afghanistan and attacked a village on back stanny soil.

the military believes the gunmen were members of the pakistani pakistan in the swat valley. again, in 2009, a military operation chased them away. they say it's a tactic that will not work. wolf? >> an amazing, very, very amazing story. thanks very much for that. it's a startling claim by a man who wants to be president of the united states. we're going to focus on new remarks by republican presidential candidate herman cain who's taking his very vocal concerns about muslims to a whole new level. and when rupert murdoch faces british law makers in a matter of hours, he may feel like he and his entire media empire are on trial. stay with us. you're in "the situation room."

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jack cafferty is here with the cafferty file now. people can watch you stream on a mobile device, an ipad, jack. this is great. >> i have no idea what that means. but i'll trust you. >> it's really good. >> republican congresswoman michele bachmann is a rising star of sorts in a lacklustre to say the least field of gop candidates who hope to challenge president obama next year. bachmann came out on top in three separate polls of likely iowa republican voters last

week. go figure. my shael bhaukman's husband marc marcus runs a christian counseling business. former clients say he encourages homosexual patients to try to change their sexual orientation, or at least oppress it. it's called pray away the gay. in an interview, marcus bachmann did not deny that he and other counselors doo do use that technique, but they only do so at the request of the patient. michele bachmann has been sort of skirting around her own views on homosexuality, but that party is about to come to a screeching halt. she recently signed something called the marriage vow, written by a very conservative group in iowa. among other things it's a vow to be faithful to your spouse. fair enough, but the vows also condemn adultery, pornography and gay marriage and describe

homosexuality as a choice. in a speech in 2004, michele bachmann said being involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle amounts to personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement. sort of like traditional marriage. unquote. that was my add, not heres. comedians and bloggers having a field day with all of this. but on a more serious note, there is a group called the human rights campaign, a gay rights group that's vowing now to go after michele bachmann and her beliefs in the upcoming campaign. they call michele bachmann, quote, the very definition of a target-rich environment, unquote. if they're serious, she could have a serious problem. here's the question, when it comes to the gay community, is michele bachmann living in the twilight zone? go to cnn.com/cafferty file. if she comes out winning the

caucuses, she's got some momentum and heads into new hampshire with, you know, some kind of a lead. we'll see where it goes from there. it could happen. >> and then south carolina that follows new hampshire. jack, thank you. let's go to britain right now where the scandal surrounding rupert murdoch's media empire is growing. a former "news of the world" reporter who blew the whistle on allegations of phone hacking has reportedly been found dead. police are treating it as an unexplained but not, at least for now, suspicious death. other new developments. in the scandal, the british prime minister david cameron says he'll request a special session of parliament on wednesday. a separate investigation of police corruption is widening after a second top london police official resigned. all this just hours before murdoch faces british law marngs cnn senior international correspondent dan rivers is in london. >> well, wolf, the phone hacking

scandal is about to reach its incredibly dramatic climax as rupert and james murdoch arrive at the palace of westminster behind me to face probing questions from politicians about how much they knew about the illegal activities going on in some of their newspapers. when big ben strikes 2:30 in london, the bell will be tolling for rupert murdoch, his son james and former chief executive rebekah brooks. their appearance before a british parliamentary committee may be the most important hour of their entire careers. and the big political beasts in this building are smelling blood. even if rebekah brooks' arrest may mean she's unable to shed light on what really happened. hacking victims like john

prescott think rupert murdoch's got a lot to answer for. >> everybody is scared to death of doing anything he doesn't like. he's the spider in the middle of this web and it's about time we took him on. >> the chairman who will be in charge of the grilling is keen to hear why the company previously told him phone hacking was just the work of a rogue reporter. then later admitted that wasn't true. >> we took evidence from senior executives of news international and james murdoch has now publicly stated that parliament was misled. parliament takes that very seriously. they want to ask him why he's discovered we have been misled, who misled us and how long he's known about that. >> for rupert murdoch, this isn't a court appearance, but it may feel like he's on trial. rupert murdoch has been behind numerous cruel tabloid headlines. now suddenly he's on the front page himself. and that's a pretty awkward

place for a press baron to be, suddenly the target of the gutter press. >> members of congress are used to political fights, but how a 77-year-old democrat from iowa may have actually fought for his life against a gunman. and why didn't president obama choose the woman who came up with the idea for a consumer financial protection bureau? i'll speak with elizabeth warren. ♪ [ jim ] i need to push out a software upgrade. build a new app for the sales team in beijing. and convince the c.e.o. his email will find him... wherever he is. i need to see my family while they're still awake. [ male announcer ] with global services from dell, jim can address his company's i.t. needs through custom built applications, cloud solutions and ongoing support in over 100 countries. so his company sees results. and jim sees his family. dell. the power to do more.

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>> it was a very odd scene over at the white house. president obama announcing the man he's chosen to head the new consumer financial protection bureau. also there, the woman who didn't get the job. just ahead, i'll speak with elizabeth warren about the bureau she envisioned and the controversy around her running it. she made it clear she was going to get the job and we all thought she was going to get the job. >> liberals thought she was the best woman for the job but republicans did not like her. and after that, as elizabeth warren pointed out in an opinion piece today, the new agency has some enemies in washington. >> last september, when president obama unveiled the consumer financial protection bureau in the rose garden, he praised elizabeth warren as the architect. >> she will help oversee all

aspects of t s of the bureau's creation. >> but she didn't get the nop nak as dire -- nomination. but that confirmation hearing that the president joked about is one reason he got the nod. yes, the white house said he's the right fit for the job, moving up from director of enforcement, but they didn't discount threats fra conservatives to block warren if she had been nominate pd . >> had there not been that stiff opposition, would she have been the person nominated? >> hypotheticals are hard to answer. as an observation of fact, the kind of opposition she engendered is clear. as another observation in fact,

some republican senators have a blanket opposition to the agency as it is. >> more on that in a moment. but why didn't conservatives like warren? some feared a heavy-handed approach to the financial industry, wall street in particular. that opposition could have led to a nasty confirmation battle during a time when big money and every vote counts. but it's unclear about the nomination process. >> we've added another huge powerful regulator on top of a system that everyone agrees is broken and hasn't decided how it's going to work together.

wolf? >> thank very much. >> joining us from the white house is elizabeth warren. thanks very much for coming in. >> it's a pleasure to be here. >> why do you think you're so controversial? >> you know, i'm going to say, i really don't get it. the stuff i work on are things like how bad fine print is. and how it is that credit agreements should not be written in language that ordinary folks can't read. and understand. and why it shouldn't take an army of folks, of lawyers to be able to interpret a mortgage agreement for you. that's stuff all kinds of folks think are good things for hard works middle class americans. i really don't get the part. what is the one thing i've done that makes me controversial. i think this is politics. >> the consumer financial protection bureau, really your brain child, as the president of

the united states himself said. how dis appoiappointed are you e didn't nominate you to head it in the. >> oh, golly, not at all. what you really have to understand here is my job was to set this up. one of the people i recruited right from the beginning was rich cordray, a guy with an incredibly impressive resume for standing tough and being smart. and this is a new time for the consumer agency. this is the one-year anniversary of first come into existence. this is the week that we pick up a bunch of our new powers. and this the week that the president makes a nomination for someone to lead this agency going forward. that's a good thing. >> senator shelby, the republican senator from alabama, he issued a statement saying this, and i'll read it to you. until president obama addresses our concerns by supporting a few

reasonable structural changes, we will not confirm anyone to lead it. no accountability, no confirmation. do you think the president will be ready to make those kinds of changes that senator shelby and others are asking that will allow mr. cordray to be confirmed? >> let me be really clear. we started this fight two years ago. and senator shelby and others who were their allies did not want any consumer agency at all. and if it absolutely was the case politically there had to be one, they wanted a weak agency that couldn't get anything done. we had that fight and then we had a straight up vote on it. and in a straight up vote in the united states senate just over a year ago, that side lost. the side that carried the day is a good, strong agency.

so that side is now saying well, i don't like how that came out. i want to stick a stick in the spokes unless the majority does what the minority wants it to. that's not how democracy works and it's not how this agency works. it's just wrong. >> i take it you don't want any changes. but the u.s. chamber of commerce today came out with a tough statement saying unless there are these change, it's a job killing bureau. an unaccountable agency, it says with broad enforcement powers, could do serious damage to the credit markets at a time when small business lending is still reeling. and they point out that most new jobs are created by small businesses. what do you think to say to the u.s. chamber of commerce? >> you know, you can keep saying this. they said it before the last set of votes, they say it now. but let's just look at the reality. we've taken a stack of

incomprehensible mortgage forms and said we want to get it down to one page. we put a prototype out there. we shared it with banks, we shared it with mortgage brokers, credit unions, we shared it with consumers and we have gotten praise back from everyone. from the american enterprise institute to the consumer federation of america. they said wow, that really works. you can cut regulatory burdens at the same time that you can increase value for families. that's what we're here doing day by day by day. they want to rip the arms and legs off this agency before it ever gets started. they can say whatever words they want, but i understand what this fight really is. >> they say they would like to see it like the sec, a commission instead oaf an agency so it wouldn't have the enormous power it now has. >> so it can have trouble in terms of doing investigations. no. went congress voted for this a year ago, they put enormous

restrictions on this agency. unlike any other federal agency, this is an agency, when we make a rule, we can actually be overruled by other federal agencies that exist nowhere else in government. unlike other federal banking regulators, we have caps on our funding. and can't determine ur own funding levels. there are powerful restrictions on what we can do. what these guys want is not accountability. what they want is an agency that simply is too hamstrung to act. >> let's talk about elizabeth warren's political future. a lot of people want you to think about seriously running against scott brown, the united states senator from massachusetts where you live. are you giving that serious thought right now? >> you know, i have to tell you, i've spent 14 hours a day on the work standing up this agency. it has been all absorbing. and now is the moment when i'm going to get to step away from that and i'm going to get to take a little vacation with my grandchildr

grandchildren. we're headed to lego land. that's my immediate future. >> what about after r&r. would you then seriously consider challenging senator brown? >> i got to go home to massachusetts. i got to get back in the house i've lived in for 15 years and settle in and then i'll think about my future. >> all right, we'll stay in close touch and hear what you have to say. good luck with the next challenge. thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. it's known as operation fast and furious. why government agencies are being investigated in connection with a controversial gun purchasing program. plus a dire warning in a national school cheating scandal. resign or be fired.

>> dramatic development in the case of a controversial atf gun purchasing program. lisa sylvester has that. some of the top stories in "the

situation room" right now. >> congress is giving the fbi and dea one week to hand over documents into its investigation of "fast and furious." a program allowing the legal purchase of assault weapons. the acting director implicated the two agencies. and a dire warning for atlanta public schools officials accused of cheating on tests, resign or be fired. they're being given three days to leave the job or face hearings. and the top commander of nato forces in the region transferred authority to marine lieutenant general john allen during a ceremony today. petraeus will assume his new role as cia director in september. wolf?

>> rick perry keeps referring to a higher power as he contemplates running for president. and a 77-year-old democrat takes on a gunman in his own home. . call her. ok. [ cellphone rings ] hey. you haven't left yet.

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a. >> joining us in our strategy session. jamal simmons, a principle over at the raven group. rick perry, i think h he's going to run. he's causing a little controversy he told the des moines register, imneat ready to tell you i'm ready to announce i'm in but i'm getting more and more comfortable that this is what i have been called to do. are you comfortable that he's bringing good into a lot of his

political activities? >> well, if you're going to have just one vote in a primary, god is probably a good one to have. hukabee was a runner-up to john mccain. the problem is that narrows you, it takes the spotlight off the real issues right now. jobs and growth. >> he's got a day of prayer and fast as the governor of texas any problem with that? >> i think for a lot of americans, talking about being called is normal language. people will talk about that whether they're called to be a doctor or whatever it is.

it's hard for him to appeal to secular voters. >> people want to know what you're going to do to turn this economy around and create jobs. >> do you think he's going to run. this is the strangest year i've ever seen. a lot of candidates but nobody is in love with anybody. >> i worked for wesley clark and he didn't do that well. he waited so late to g net. >> this is no easy thing for perry either. in texas, he's never quite filled george bush's boots. a lot of people think he's george bush but with a dimmer lightbu

lightbulb. >> this whole rupert murdoch scandal, they've been pretty active in politics. here in the united states, they've given away a lot of money, like a lot of big corporations have, nothing wrong with that. but is there a problem, a political problem for some of the recipients of that money over the years? >> if you've taken money from somebody who's been arrested or indicted, that's certainly money you have to give back. before you start giving back money from everybody who's been associated with news corporation, we do have an assumption of innocence. there's so much money in politics. you can end up taking all your cash coming in and givingsing it away every time someone makes a mistake. >> i don't know if you saw the full-page apology in the british newspapers. >> it was a very robust apology.

it didn't say we're sorry we dithis. it said we're sorry there's wronggoings that occurred. like it's sorry it rained. so far he's responded to this with such rapidity, he's closed down a newspaper, fired the head of his u.s. journalistic operations. people are beginning to think well, is he shutting down paths of investigation before there can be one? >> if you're a candidate you do start looking. of. >> the last time the liberal press demanded a media prosecutor, it was to probe the robert novak in pursuit of scooter libby. but the efforts soon engulfed a reporter for "the new york times" which led the posse to hang novak and his sources.

is the media, the liberal media going too far in going after rupert murdoch's news organization in the united states? >> not at all. >> there's the foreign corrupt practices act may be at stake here. >> they're playing this one straight up, and there's no story that gets as much traction in the media as a story about the media. >> no problem defending the media. thanks. all right, guys. republican presidential candidate herman cain now taking his controversial comments about muslims even further. has he gone too far. where do you go to find a super business?

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jack is back with "the cafferty file." jack? ? the question this hour, when it comes to the gay community, is republican congresswoman and candidate for president michele bachmann living in the twilight

zone? dennis in florida writes obviously, yes. the problem michele bachmann, sarah palin and other extremists have is that they believe every issue in the world is black and white. they have no understand being of the concept of gray. you either agree with them on everything or you're obviously wrong. to them freedom of choice means you accept their choice. annie writes from georgia, twilight zone? maybe, the new christian reality. definitely. nothing like a good god-fearing loving christian's brand of hate to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, is is there? what coined of monster is this woman, and what does that make us thinking she or her twin palin are even remotely qualified for publicer is vicious let alone the presidency? some of these are nasty. victoria writes in cedar rapids, iowa, yes, she's definite will you out there. the vast majority of people i know here in iowa, my mother-in-law notwithstanding, are for gay rights and support gay marriage. we're not as backwoods as some

politicians might think. as far as those who are conservative enough to agree with michele bachmann, i doubt there are enough of them here to care the vote. sean writes i saw that episode of "the twilight zone" and it ends with michele bachmann getting pushed aside by her own party because she lacks a brain. ned california writes michele bachmann is in the brain dead zone. she's popular because she spreads and keeps hate alive. and what a hypocrite. her family accepts farm subsidies, and she and her dear hub both take socialized monetary help from our pockets just to keep his psychotherapy business afloat. she is no good. dan, says, if the twilight zone is a hate-filled place of appalling ignorance then, yes, she and her husband have the nicest house there. how can someone who thinks they are qualified to lead our nation and purports to be so pro constitution so readily demonize and deny basic equality to any segment of the american public? if you want to read more on this, go to my blog,

cnn.com/caffertyfile. >> quickly, jack. that statement of human right campaign, criticized michele bachmann and in criticizing her that there was a target-rich environment from which to criticize her. >> yes. they plan to go back and explore her record on the subject. obviously this vow that she signed, this -- put together by this conservative group out in iowa which is opposed to gay marriage, is a jumping-off place, but she's made speeches in the past where she's likened homosexuality to, you know, all kinds of horrible things, and they are going to go back and look into her background and her record and start to confront her with some of this stuff as the election campaign unfolds. could be problematic for her. >> and which is totally legitimate. i'm a little concerned about target-rich environment, bullseye after the gabby giffords environment. thought they would tone that down, that kind of language, but

i may be overly sensitive. >> that's a veiled point. that's a legitimate point of concern, but those are the words they used. >> i would tone down that language, if i were them, but that's just me. thank you, jack. >> you bet. >> he heard his daughter scream and a member of congress went into action helping to fend off a man with a gun. ncer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions?

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republican presidential candidate herman cane is in political hot water after making controversial comments about the muslim faith, and this isn't the first time. let's go to cnn's joe johns. he's got the details. joe? >> reporter: hey, wolf. herman cane really has found a way to get attention in this campaign. he found the key after admitting he'd think twice about putting muslim in his cabinet. now he's gone even further. there he goes again. >> our constitution guarantees separation of church and state. >> reporter: you would think that by now herman cane would watch his words. every time he opens his mouth on the subject of islam. >> islam combines church and state? this is a presidential candidate who just keeps pushing. his latest blast on fox news was about a proposed mosque near nashville. >> they are using the -- the church part of our first

armedment to infuse their mosque in that community. >> reporter: and it didn't stop there. >> and i happen to side with the people in the community? >> reporter: so you're saying any community if they want to ban a mosque. >> they have the right to do that. >> reporter: reminiscent of the cnn debate when he said he wouldn't be comfortable with a muslim in his comfortable. >> i would not be comfortable because you have peaceful muslims and then you have militant muslims. >> reporter: it goes without saying that religion in america, evenis last, is protected by the constitution and treating similar groups like christianity or judaism differently from islam is discriminatory, but not in herman cane's world. he explains all that in a video now on youtube. >> that's not discrimination. that's just being cautious. >> reporter: it's nearly unheard of for a candidate with such low name recognition who by the way never ran for office to break double digits in the polls, but there he is in the middle of the pack which is why his statements can't be ignored.

abraham hooper represents the council on american-islamic relations and thinks others in the race need to speak about out cane's position. >> if the republican candidates and the republican party in general really claim to represent patriotic americans and american values, religious tolerance and inclusion is an american value, and they need to support that. >> reporter: not surprisingly republicans we aprechd on this weren't exactly racing to the microphone to weigh in. the republican national committee wouldn't touch it either. the other campaigns are not commenting at this time. we also reached out to cane but haven't heard back. wolf? >> joe, thank you. and to our viewers, you're in "the situation room." hag now. a wave of high-level resignations as the hacking scandal engulfing rupert murdoch media empire spreads to britain's police force and a major american newspaper. now an unexplained death. also republicans rally behind a new plan to avoid a u.s. debt

disaster. details at what they are demanding and why the president and the democrats are dismissing it. two lawmakers are here to debate cut, cap and balance this hour. and the home invasion robber who chose the wrong victim and a congressman who fought back. welcome to our viewers around the united states and the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> a deadly twist to the news corporation hacking scandal following a wave of high-profile resignations. british media now reporting that the reporter who blew the whistle on phone hacking at the "news of the world" has been found dead with politician calling his demise unexplained but not suspicious. it's a shocking development and the scandal stunning proportions that's claiming careers at the highest levels, including that of most -- some of the most

powerful women in british media. cnn's brian todd is tracking these developments for us. brian, update our viewers about the latest. >> reporter: wolf, right now all eyes are on the british parliament, and its hearings tomorrow featuring rebekah brooks as a new ex-murdoch executive. a spokesman for brooks tells us she will answer their questions the best she can, but the focus now is on what she may or may not reveal about the murdoch empire and who could be next to fall. arrested, questioned for nine hours and then released, rebekah brooks could play a key role in the investigations into the phone hacking scandal. for weeks she was the firewall between the public's furry and rupert murdoch's family. now somewhat she's an ex-murdoch employ who faces more scrutiny from police and parliament -- can rebekah brooks, will she bring someone else down in news corporation? >> it's difficult to see how rebekah brooks has any interest in blaming anybody else in news corporation. she will fight very hard to clear her own name and make sure

she's not held responsible for knowing about the phone hacking that went on. >> reporter: itn correspondent sarah smith says brooks still values her ties to the murdochs or may have her eye on a future editing job elsewhere. brooks' spokesman says she will answer the questions to the best of her ability but wouldn't admit that she has several million dollars coming in severance pay. the list of casualty appears to be inching closer to news corporation's powerful ruling family. from the outside, top police officials paul stephenson and john yates have resigned over their handling of the scandal. andy coulson, out years ago as "news of the world" editor and out as david cameron spokesman and arrested last month and les hinton, publisher of the "wall street journal" is gone. "news of the world" has closed down and now that rebekah brooks has resigned and been arrested, many observers say james murdoch, youngest son of rue matter murdoch, chairman and ceo of news corp in asia and

britain, is now on the firing line. >> james murdoch has already made it very clear that he paid off a huge amount of money to gordon taylor who is a trade unionist who had his phone hacked, and james murdoch has made it clear now that he regards that as an error on his part and he most regrets it. >> reporter: if it's found james murdoch knew more about the hacking than what's been revealed so far, smith says shareholders, board members may force his father's hand. >> if they were to really demand that james no longer be the heir apparent, that he changed the way that the company is structured to stop james from taking over, he'd have to listen to them. >> reporter: there are other reports that independent board members of news corporation are going even further than that, questioning whether a change of leadership is needed. in other words, may be replacing james murdoch all together. i spoke to a member of the board this afternoon. he called those reports, quote, total crap. wolf? >> what about the british prime minister, david cameron? is he in any jeopardy now?

>> when this scandal blew up a couple of weeks ago, most observers would say no, he's not but some observers are saying this is very embarrassing to him, lapping at the door of ten downing street. embarrassing because of his ties to that editor andy coulson and others. now not out of the question he could suffer at some other level. whether it takes him down or not, doubtful, but he could suffer politically. >> brought andy coulson into his government as director of communications. thanks very much for that. meanwhile, the scandal has grown closer to rupert murdoch as brian reported with the arrest of his protege and deputy rebekah brooks. more on her meteoric rise and stunning fall. >> reporter: in the cozy world of british politics and media, rebekah brooks was at its very center. she wined and dined the rich and powerful on behalf of her boss and mentor, rupert murdoch. from ambitious journalist to arguably the most powerful woman

in british news media, now arrested by british police investigating allegations of phone hacking and police payments by murdoch newspapers. just how did rebekah brooks get to this point? of brooks first came to news international as a secretary at "news of the world." she quickly developed a reputation for her tenacity as a journalist. reportedly once disguising herself as a cleaning lady to scoop a competitor. described as both ruthless and charming, she was soon the youngest editor of the "news of the world" and shortly after that, "the sun," both owned by murdoch's news international. she spoerheaded a controversial campaign to quote name and shame alleged pedophiles, publishing their names and addresses in the paper. as the editor of "the sun" brooks testified to parliament that her paper had paid police officers for information, and it was under her editorship that the "news of the world" allegedly paid a private investigator to hack into the

voice mail messages of millie dowlor, the 13-year-old girl murdered in britain whose front page revelations made headlines. brooks had scaled the corporate ladder to become chief executive of news corp international, a position she resigned last week and brooks denied any knowledge of any phone hacking by her staff. it was brooks who cemented a relationship with prime minister david cameron, inviting him to lunches at her country home with the head of news corporation, rupert murdoch's son james. there have been several arrests in the phone hacking scandal so far, but rebekah brooks is the highest profile yet and the one closest to rupert murdoch himself. >> rebekah brooks is only 43 years old. more on the story later, but other news. the u.s. general is now in charge in afghanistan is warning

his troops there will be tough days ahead in the war, and a brazen assassination of president hamid karzai's trusted mentor is making that crystal clear. let's go to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence who is following developments. what else is going on there, chris? >> reporter: well, wolf, an unofficial motto of the marine corps is to do more with less, and general john allen is the first u.s. marine to run the war in afghanistan or iraq. so if this latest killing is any indication at all, he's going to have to live up to that motto. >> reporter: general john allen has no illusions about assuming command of the war in afghanistan. >> there will be tough days ahead. >> reporter: look at day one. as general david petraeus was handing over control to allen, afghan officials were preparing to bury john mohammed khan, a mentor to president hamid karzai. two men climbed his outside walls sunday negotiate and as

nafted cha -- assassinated khan in his own home. >> there are those who are trying to go after president karzai and try and break him and his security situation. >> reporter: last month the intercontinental hotel was stormed in kabul and it took coalition helicopters to fly in to take them out. then a trusted guard assassinated, the president's half brother, ahmad wali karzai, and analyst jeffrey dressler says it proves both kabul and carsy are not immune and could be taliban attempts to improve their negotiating power with the afghan government. >> creating a security vacuum that they can fill and thus at the end of the day securing better deals for themselves. >> reporter: allen will have far less resources to improve security than his predecessor. when president obama announced his decision to withdraw one-third of american troops by next fall, a senior administration official says that was one of the options that general petraeus offered, but

apparently that's not true, as general allen admitted to senator lindsey graham. >> it is a more aggressive option than that which was presented. >> my question is was that an option? >> it was not. >> so general allen will have to figure out how to have a successful fighting season next year, even though he won't have as many resources as he does this year. >> reporter: some of the military officials i spoke with say allen has never been as public as petraeus, but one of the reasons he was picked for the job is they believe he has the communications skills to muster support for the war back home among ordinary americans. with the u.s. now spending $10 billion every month on the war, that ability could be just as important as his strategic skills on the battlefield. wolf? >> thanks very much. chris lawrence at the pentagon. the debate is raging behind closed doors over at the white house over the u.s. looming debt disaster as the latest republican proposal, is that the answer? we'll have more on that.

that's coming up this hour. plus, the 77-year-old congressman who wrestled a home invasion robber. stay with us. you're in "the situation room."

jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." jack? >> wolf, on august 3rd ashes scant couple of weeks away, the u.s. government is scheduled to pay out $23 billion in social security benefits. but if a deal isn't reached in congress to raise the debt ceiling, there's a chance those checks won't go out. that's because only $12 million in revenue is expected to come in that day, and that would leave the treasury a cool $11 billion short. according to politico.com without an agreement on the debt ceiling the federal government's line of credit will run out and so will its options to write those checks. and when you include other scheduled payments due to be paid for that same day, well, the federal government will be $20 billion short.

wonderful. that's just one scenario, of course. talking heads from washington to wall street have weighed in with all kinds of prekickses on what will happen if a deal is not reached, everything from a financial apocalypse to nothing. the administration has used words lake calamitous, catastrophic and arm godden. a handful of vocal republicans say the administration is exaggerating the situation. they claim not a whole lot would happen if an agreement isn't reached by august 2nd. by and large, most economists say if the u.s. defaults on some of its loans, interest rates will likely shoot up. the dollar would plummet. stock markets around the world would react negatively, and our very fragile economic recovery would suffer a mighty blow. suffice it to say there does not appear to be a lot of upside to uncle sam defaulting on his obligations. here's the question. what is your greatest fear if the u.s. fails to raise the debt ceiling? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog. i think we can safely say, wolf,

that the federal government is now dysfunctional. this has been coming on for months, and now we're days away and nothing has been done. >> it's really so annoying. >> it's pathetic. >> a lot more than annoying, because it's really dangerous. >> it's outrageous. >> people are going to suffer. average people, poor people, middle class, rich. everyone is going to suffer. it's going to be a disaster. they have to reach some -- >> these people in washington are playing with the future of this country. they are not entitled to do that. >> all right, jack. thank you. let's dig deeper right now on this debate. our chief political analyst glornlger is here. gloria, the republican presidential candidates, there's eight or ten of them, are they having an impact? >> a week ago i would say they are completely irregulari lly i. you had candidates like michele bachmann and tim pawlenty saying

do not raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances and others here saying work on a deal. now you have a cut, cap and balance vote that's going to occur in the house tomorrow, and that is something that republican presidential candidates have been talking about, so now you have the campaign trail and the congress meshing. listen to michele bachmann. >> the principles that are found in the cut, cap and balance pledge will put us in the right direction for fundamentally restructuring the way that washington, d.c. is currently spending our tax dollars. >> by the way, wolf, michele bachmann was against this pledge before she was for it. she also made a point today of saying it doesn't go far enough for her. she's signing it anyway because she wants it to repeal obama care, but at least right now the candidates and the congressional leaders and the house republicans seem to be on the same page. >> does the american public believe, as the president says, there will be armageddon if

there's no deal? >> no, no, it's interesting. the american public is pretty divided on this. take a look at this new pew poll released today. voters were asked whether it's essential to raise the debt limit by august 2nd. yes, 40%. no, 39%, so that's -- that's pretty conflicted, but when you look inside the numbers, wolf, you see that republicans say it will not be a major problem. most republicans. most democrats say it will be a major problem. to me the issue is why haven't our politicians communicated more about what could happen, as jack cafferty was just talking about, if we don't raise the debt ceiling. one of the reasons i was told by some inside the administration you is don't want to spook the markets. well, the market is down 95 points today. and remember what happened when the president said you might not get your social security checks. he was accused of fearmongering. >> the point is though that the president at that news conference last week said he wouldn't accept any short-term

stop gap measure, 0 days, 60-days, 90 days, not even 180 days. >> right. >> he said he wouldn't go along with that, but if he's forced to do so, he may have to reconsider. >> what we hear is the sound of concrete cracking, i think ronald reagan said. i think the short-term deal, in fact, may be the best that the president can get. maybe they can get something in three stages that can get them through the election. the deal they are working on in the senate could give everybody a little bit of what they want. >> the mcconnell deal. >> the mcdonnel/reid deal. the president could get a debt ceiling that could go through the election. the onus will be on him, but he can still get it, giving the markets and business some certainty. the republicans get to vote against the debt ceiling still knowing that it's going to pass and the country gets the debt ceiling and the certainty that that provides. big question, wolf, would this compromise measure include $1 trillion or more worth of

spending cuts? and will the house republicans vote for it. don't know. >> and will some democrats vote for it? is if they don't see republicans voting for it, they will not see democrat reporting for it. >> gloria borger was nominated for an emmy. >> an interview with ted olsen and dave boies, both attorneys fighting proposition eight, you remember them from bush v. gore, on different side, republican and democrat and now they are on the same side. maybe folks in washington can take a little bit of a lesson from that. >> the emmy-nominated gloria borger here in "the situation room." congratulations, wolf. >> we hope you win. >> thank you. >> are republicans risking it all with voters in the next year's presidential election by digging in their heels in the fight over america's debt limit? stand by, and members of the band cheap trick. they are lucky to be alive after their stage collapses. stay with us. you're in "the situation room."

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the u.s. has a message for the gadhafi regime, around it's delivering it personally. lisa sylvester is here who is monitoring that and other stories in "the situation room." tell us what it is. >> reporter: i will. a state department official tells cnn u.s. government officials met with members of moammar gadhafi's regime, and their message was this. an order for libya to move forward. moammar gadhafi must step down. the spokesman says the officials emphasize that this was not a negotiation and that gadhafi must leave power for a new political process to begin. cisco is axing 16% of its workers. the networking giant announcing today it will lay off 6,500

employees, including 2,100 staffers who opt for early retireme retirement. 7% of its work star will transferred to another company all together. cisco has seen market share increasingly go to competitors, including hewlett-packard and its flip video camera has failed to revise sales. the justice department is closing its investigation of former senate hopeful christine o'donnell's finance campaigns. a group claimed that owed dell misspent campaign money. she tweeted today that it's time for the justice department to probe the citizens group that raised those allegations. and rapper ja rule is in more trouble with the law. jeffrey atkins, his real name, was sentenced to 28 months in prison for tax evasion. he admitted that he failed to pay more than $1 million in taxes for five years. he's already serving two years

at rikers island on unrelated charges after police found a loaded gun hidden in the back seat of his car. and at least five people are injured after a horrifying accident at the ottawa bluesfest. the stage crumbled to the ground in the middle of a violent thunderstorm last night. the band cheap trick was performing, but they managed to run off the stage moments before it went down. one witness says it was like an unvisible hand pushed the entire struck you're over like a house of cards. pretty remarkable pictures there, wolf. >> could have been a lot worse. thanks, lisa. the latest catch phrase. what is cut cap and balance and could it be solution to avoiding a financial disaster? and a 77-year-old man targeted for robbery, but he decides he's not going to be a victim. he also happens to be a united states congressman. work faster and smarter so you can get back to playing "angry birds."

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university of phoenix made it doable. a lot of my instructors were principals in my district. i wouldn't be where i am without that degree. my name is dr. carrie buck. i helped turn an at-risk school into an award winning school, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. if you haven't heard the phrase cut, cap and balance before, you're going to be hearing a lot about it in the coming days. it's the latest proposal for trying to fix the u.s. debt crisis as the clock ticks, ticks, ticks towards a possible, possible government default. our chief political correspondent candy crowley shows us what it's all about. >> reporter: buzzword alert. >> cut, cap and balance gets us out of debt over a long period

of time? cut a substantial amount of spending to bring down the $1.5 trillion deficit expected this year. cap federal spending at 18% of gross domestic product. it's at 24% of gdp now. pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution that includes spending caps and makes it difficult to raise federal taxes. cut, cap and balance, ccb, is all the rage in some republican quarters. >> the answer for the country is for the president to agree to cut federal spending to cap federal spending, and to put in place a balanced budget amendment. >> the house will be in order. >> reporter: this week the republican-controlled house will likely pass a cut, cap and balance bill as a prerequisite to raising the debt ceiling. there are mighty objections from democrats on the hill and in the white house. >> what these amendments do is not just say you have to balance the budget, but it puts in place spending limitations that would force us to cut social security

and medicare more deeply than even the house budget resolution did. >> reporter: what the house will almost surely approve the senate almost surely will not leaving the debt ceiling issue precisely where it's been for months, unresolved. if you cannot get the senate to pass what the house surely will this week, you will allow the u.s. to go in default, or will you go to a plan "b." >> i'm going to focus on plan" a." that is the only plan that will work. it's a real deal, not a big deal >> reporter: most probably deal still in the works would cut spending by $1.5 trillion over ten years and let the president raise the debt ceiling through the 2012 election. congress could stop him, but only in the unlikely event of a veto-proof majority vote in both houses. everybody gets off the hook, and it avoids economic chaos. >> at the end of the day republican leaders have made it clear we will not be the ones to put the government in default. >> reporter: it's unclear whether republican rank and file

will follow their leaders. the deal comes from senator mitch mcconnell who has been trashed by conservatives ever since. >> let's have the debate, not a copout like the mcconnell plan. >> reporter: last-ditch mcdonnel plan could be on the senate floor before the end of the week. before the mcconnell bill they will take up cut, cap and balance because even if ccb doesn't doesn't pass it has great potential as a cbs, campaign bumper sticker. candy crowley. >> joining us, democratic congresswoman jan cha causeky of illinois deeply involved in this issue. are you going to vet on this legislation that's called cut, cap and balance when it comes up tomorrow? are you going to be in favor of it, or are you going to vote against it? >> well, this is a completely reckless and dangerous proposal. of course i'm going to vote no. the republicans are trying to hold us all hostage, and

offering a by organize us completedly unrational choices but saying we'll let the full faith and credit of the united states go down and we're in the going to pay our bills with disastrous consequences which they ought to know is real. this is not rumor or theory. it's arithmetic, that maybe the social security checks won't go out and the deficit will certainly be increased, or you pass this -- this plan that is certain to force cuts in medicare and social security without touching a hair on the head of any billionaire. >> what's wrong with a balanced budget amendment to the constitution because clearly democrats and republicans, they have failed over these many years to balance the federal budget? >> well, first of all, that's just not true. it's only a little over ten years ago that president clinton handed george bush not only a balanced budget but a surplus in

the -- in the budget, and he managed to -- to squander that, and so memories are very, very short. democrats have never rejected sitting down at the table to deal with these hard issues and to be fiscally responsible. having a balanced budget amendment, which as they propose would limit spending, would force absolutely draconian cuts and never let us invest in the kinds of things that will dig us out of a recession, the kinds of investments we need to make in education and infrastructure. it puts our whole economy in further jeopardy. >> a lot of polls over these many months, they say the american public though, congressman, would like to see a balanced budget amendment which most of the governors have to deal with, a lot of local governments have to deal with. an nbc/"wall street journal" poll out earlier in the year, do you favor or oppose a balanced budget amendment to the u.s. constitution? 61% favor and 28% oppose.

2% depends, and 9% unsure. it looks like you're in the minority on that question. >> well, actually, it depends how you phrase the question. if you say should we have a balanced budget amendment that is going to force cuts in social security or medicare or programs that help the middle class, i want to tell you that i feel that the big crisis that we face right now is not so much the long-term debt which, of course, we have to deal with. i was on the president's commission on fiscal responsibility, but we have a jobs crisis right now. we have a disappearance of the middle class crisis right now, and federal spending actually is the thing that can help dig us out right now. we need to make some investments in the economy and not devastate the middle class and our seniors with the cuts that they propose. >> are you with the president, congresswoman, when he says in terms of the big deal, he would be willing to cut medicare, social security, the entitlement

programs in certain ways that would be politically difficult for a democrat? are you with him on that? >> i'm not in favor of those cuts, but what the president has said that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed, to and he has asked for revenues, and as i said, they will not cut one red cent from the wealthiest americans who are paying the lowest tax rates in the last half century but want to put the retirement and the well-being of our seniors and persons with disabilities and middle class americans on the line, and so, you know, they are not putting what they need to do on the table. this isn't a real discussion. this is about politics. it's very reckless. it is very dangerous, and it's totally irrational. >> the president did say last week as part of a big deal he'd be open to a major change in social security and medicare i should say, means testing. in other words, richer elderly

people would have to pay more than poor or middle class elderly, are you with him on that? >> i am not, but i think what he's real said is those kinds of conversations are on the table. i actually think that medicare and social security need to be on a sap rate table all their own to talk about how we make shower we have long-term solvency without harming the benefits of older americans, who rely on these programs more than they ever did because private pensions are disappearing. health care costs are going up, and -- and their savings are going down, so, no, that's not acceptable i don't think to me, but i proposed an alternative plan to the simpson/bowles where we could achieve a balanced budget without harming the middle class and taking it out on the backs of the people who have sacrificed. there is no equal sacrifice here. they are protecting the wealthiest americans, the millionaires and billion airs and large corporations like ge

that aren't paying any taxes and the getting rebates. >> congresswoman, thanks for coming in. >> thank you so much, wolf. >> i should point out we invited congressman jason chaffetz of utah to join us as well. unfortunately, he's stuck in a committee meeting and we'll have him here in "the situation room" down the room. an armed intruder invades a congressman's home but the 77-year-old congressman wrestles him to the ground. the test against the speed of a rescuenit. go ! they're downloading a music album. the first network to finish gets rescued. does your phone know that we're racing ? done ! verizon's done ! i've got seven left ! the fastest network in america. verizon.

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there's lots of buzz across the country today about a home invasion robbery in iowa. it's not because it happened in one of the safest communities in the country. it's because the victims were a congressman and his family. cnn's lisa sylvester is back with the detales. lisa, what happened? >> reporter: wolf, we are learning some new details here. the congressman actually had a broken rib from this fight, and the suspect was wearing a black ski mask. the family was preparing to go to bed for the evening when the intruder broke in and grabbed the congressman's daughter and pointed a gun at her.

take a listen to what happened next. 77-year-old leonard boswell is an eight term democratic congressman and had his fair share of skirmishes on the political field. but saturday night he was at his vacation home in you'll iowa when an intruder broke in, physically assaulted the congressman's daughter and demanded money. he heard his daughter's screams and the lawmaker, who we should tell you served two terms in vietnam, didn't hesitate. the congressman told reporters, quote, there was an assailant with my daughter on the floor, hand on her throat and gun at her face. >> entered the walkway of their house and immediately just went for the guy's gun and was wrestling with him. i think at one point they were both on the ground. >> reporter: boswell suffered a broken rib in the altercation. boswell's 22-year-old grandson grabbed a shotgun from another

room and point it had at the han who ran off into the field near the house. >> this has made national headlines, and, you know, friends from all over the country. they have been fielding calls all day from friends and family from around the country making sure they are all right. >> reporter: robbery appears to be the motive in a county that doesn't see a lot of crime. on a 100 index scale the risk of a robbery is 24 and in decatur county it's an 8. the fbi is helping state and local authorities with the investigation as they comb the farmhouse for clues. >> you can't obviously enter a residence without leaving some evidence behind. >> reporter: right now authorities believe it to be a random crime, and the suspect may not have even know the house belonged to a member of congress. and the suspect has not been caught and it is a federal offense to attack a congressman. that was the congressman's chief of staff who was speaking in

that piece. he had broken ribs and scrapes, a pretty dramatic thing that happened. >> i'm glad that he and his family are okay, and i hope they find this guy very, very soon. thank you. a mass execution carried out by the taliban, and all of it recorded on video. stand by. and a baseball legend hospitalized. the latest on nolan ryan's condition. plus, an amazing story of survival by an iphone. [ male announcer ] introducing the ultimate business phone --

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let's get right back to jack for "the cafferty file." jack? >> question this hour, a subject that's been going on for weeks now. what's your greatest fear if the united states fails to raise the debt ceiling? paul writes higher interest rates, higher debt, higher unemployment, lower tax revenue, lower consumer demand for pretty much everything. it's a big chain of dominoes. you're free to pick the one that frightens you the most, but at the core of it for me would be the run on job losses again from the new recession that will be born. kelly writes severe poverty breeds crime, disease, suffering

and insurgency. we know this. hey big business. we don't get paid, you don't get paid, understand? i'm disabled. my social security check is the only thing i live on. if i don't get my check, i'll have nothing to live on. i imagine this applies to thousands of people. carol in mass mass, as a former international banker, i'm not scared at all. it's a global economy. we all need each other. rating agencies have become meaningless. life will go on. what scares me is how dug in the tea party is in trying to eliminate government. but don't take aware their medicare. jim in colorado says losing my house, potentially my job and seeing years of hard work building my life flushed down the toilet by a bunch of self issued logs who are not representing the majority of citizens in this country. this nation has lost the principle of we the people, something our elected officials should be reminded of come election time. no fear, jack. think back when you refused to raise the curfew for your

daughters. they huffed and puffed for a while but turned out just fine. indeed they did. my fear? streets filled with formerly wealthy privileged people, zombies without a clue how to survive lost in a poverty-stricken world. suddenly they are unwelcome members of a class of americans whose existence they previously refused to acknowledge. if you want to read more on this, go to my blog. cnn.com/caffertyfile. wolf? >> i know the answer to this, jack, but should members of congress get their paychecks if the u.s. government has to stop some of those other paychecks? >> i -- i'm of a mind to suggest that members of congress shouldn't get paid period based on the performance that we've seen from them so far. >> i knew the answer to that question. jack cafferty. thank you. >> okay. all right. we're following another twist in the news corporation hacking scandal. twitter feed of one of the company's newspapers has now itself apparently been hacked by a rather notorious group. more on this story.

brian, what's going on here? >> reporter: throughout the spring and summer we've followed this story. a feed being posted on twitter saying we have joy, we have fun, we have messed up murdoch's sun. we are unable to reach them and reporting on them but if you go to the son's web page, it's theson dot uk and plus other tweets from them and followers of them just saying how funny they think this is. as i mentioned, we have been reporting on them all spring and summer some notorious hacking incidents. this is a group that has taken responsibility for hacking into the u.s. web side and pbs's website. nobody knows who they are or how many are in their group.

they have now turned the tables on rupert murdoch's son's website at least for now. it's reeking havoc right now. >> another dramatic twist in a story that has had a lot of twists. thank you so much. from pakistan, another graphic video showing at least 16 men executed. it reveals a lot about the fight against the bloody taliban. reza is in islamabad. >> reporter: wolf, this is a look at how brutal and ugly the war against taliban can look. we want to warn you, this is exclusive video. if you'd like to turn away, this is a good time to do so. let's walk you through this video. it was released by the taliban, posted online. it shows at least 14 men lined up, all of them wearing traditional pakistani garb, all of them with their hands tied behind their back. in front of them, you see three

armed men. one of them is scolding the men lined up, accusing them of being enemies of islam, saying that these executions are about to take place in revenge for six children who were allegedly executed by pakistani security forces in the s.w.a.t. valley, a former pakistani strong hold. the military here, very mentally denies those executions took place. after the scolding is over, that's when you see and hear the gunfire. during the gunfire, you see these men topple to the ground and you hear them moaning and what happens next, one or two of these gunmen walk up to these victims sometimes in a head in an apparent effort to make sure that they are dead. the military here believes these men who were killed were police officers kidnapped during a cross border attack on june 1st.

on that day, militants crossed over from afghanistan and attack advil laj on pakistani soil. the military believes the gung men were members of the pakistani taliban in the swat valley again. the strong hold in 2009 until the military operation here chased them away. we cannot independently verify the identity of the gunmen or the victims. the military here says this is clearly an effort by the taliban to intimidate security forces and local villages, a tactic that they say will not work. wolf? >> re sdplchza, thank you. a first step to getting gadhafi out of power. much more coming up for our north american viewers at the top of the hour. i'm john king, usa. a child's doll and a storm of controversy. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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medical tests. he was hospitalized in houston yesterday. doctors think he may be having a recurrence of a heart condition. the rangers say ryan likely will be released in a few days. during his 27 years of the major leagues, the hall of famer threw a record 5,714 strikeouts. and how about this, a sky divers iphone 4 knocked off a bathroom shelf. what do you think it happened when he sdechaccidently dropped 13,500 feet into the air? a friend watching from the ground two stories below called and what do you know, wolf, it rang. >> pretty amazing. see you tomorrow. a new doll is about to hit store shelves. here is jeanne moos.

now the breast milk baby. >> oh, wow. uh-huh. i don't believe him. >> reporter: breast feeding is believing. the child has to wear a special halter. there are two stat teej clee located halter top and the baby makes a sucking sound. >> reporter: if this sounds vaguely familiar, maybe you heard about it when the dolls first appeared online. sold by a spanish company, now the dolls are coming to a store near you. >> we're hopefully going to have breast feeding babies all over the states really soon. >> reporter: a prospect some might not be ready for judging from their faces. >> reporter: a little girl puts on this halter top and they have sen sensors in them. >> there is absolutely nothing sexual about breast feeding. it's good for mommies, good for

her babies, good for society. >> reporter: i am not putting this thing on. okay. it's on. but i am not nursing that baby doll. don't look at me that way. >> reporter: the women we talked to looked disdanced at the idea. >> i don't think i like this doll. >> she seems to be feeling that physically. >> i think it's ridiculous. come on, let them be little girls. >> there's actual breast milk that comes out of this? >> reporter: no, there's nothing that comes out. >> a cool doll. >> reporter: you would like to have this? >> yeah. >> reporter: you wha do you think? >> nah. >> reporter: the doll does require juice. aa battery or a cup size. the doll maker says even the depictions of married breast feeding the baby jesus. >> the